The great Folk Revival of the 1960s – Part One of two parts - Playlist

The great Folk Revival of the 1960s really began in the late fifties with the Kingston Trio's #1 hit, "Tom Dooley," that earned a spot on NPRs Top 100 American Musical Works of the 20th C. The 60s Folk music scene arose as a reaction to the end of the Red Scare, when the political folksingers of the left had been driven underground by Senator McCarthy's hunt for communists. Folksongs re-emerged with a vengeance, stripped of the political messages that had overloaded them but still carrying their implicit message of the power of common working people.

The Kingston Trio's clean-cut college-look and professional singing style helped bridge the gap between the previous folk singers of the 50s and brought it to young people’s dorm rooms and living rooms of the early 60s. Other similar acts that helped make American folk music palatable to a prime-time audience were The Limelighters and The Brothers Four.

In 1962, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan both released albums. Looking at them together can give a sense of the scene at the time. Baez's album - her second - contains all ballads from the British tradition - including her famous recording of "Barbara Allen" - all sung in her beautiful, almost operatic style. Dylan's album - his first - contains ten blues and traditional songs and two originals. Dylan's coarse guitar strumming, nasal whine and jumpy harmonica couldn't be further from Baez's almost reverential approach. His inclusion of blues, like Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean," and his raucous American-style remake of the ballad "Fenario" ("Pretty Peggy-O") show Dylan fighting the clean cut stylings of the Kingston Trio and the imported feel of Baez.

Pete Seeger was the great presenter of folk music to the middle class. Long before the Kingston Trio, Seeger had helped create the Almanac Singers in the 40s and The Weavers in the 50s, combining a wide variety of folk and popular songs and performing them with professional quality. Perhaps more than any other performer, Seeger featured the entire range of folk at the time. After nearly a decade of working underground after being blackballed during the McCarthy era, he rode the new wave of the folk revival to return to the stage stronger than ever. By the time of his famous Carnegie Hall concert in 1963, Seeger was an experienced pro at using folk music to achieve a dramatic transformation in his audiences. Without working from a set list, he naturally and effortlessly combined children's songs, civil rights hymns and spirituals, folk songs from various countries including a song by Chilean activist Victor Jara, and new protest songs by Bob Dylan.

While Seeger was mining the folk music of the recent American past, carrying on the tradition of Woody Guthrie who had died in 1961 after a long illness, the young Joan Baez was mining a deeper past, and one that was to have a tremendous influence on the new generation of writers. Baez, with her pure soprano voice, was astounding audiences with her performances of ancient ballads from the British Isles. "Silver Dagger," Barbara Allen," "Mary Hamilton," "Henry Martin" - these old, tragic tales resonated with audiences who could look to neither Hollywood, television or radio for the kind of art that would help them process the emotions brought on by the deepening war and the social upheaval of the Civil Rights movement.

Bob Dylan’s early songs were centered on protest music which really caught the attention of young people but when Dylan went through one of his many changes and left protest music behind, many people thought he sold out -- especially when he stated singing country music like his 1969 album Nashville Skyline and other non topical music like his 1970 album Self-Portrait.

On the other hand, Phil Ochs (1940-1976) never stopped singing protest music. He was a unique American singer-songwriter, social commentator and activist. Ochs performed at many political events, including anti-Vietnam War and civil rights rallies, student and organized labor events over the course of his career, in addition to many concert appearances at such venues as New York City's Town Hall and Carnegie Hall.

Politically, Ochs described himself as a "left social democrat" who became an "early revolutionary" after the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago led to a police riot. The late sixties were a time that had a profound effect on his state of mind. Phil endured a number of problems including bipolar disorder, alcoholism and a beating that damaged his singing voice. He took his own life in 1976 by hanging himself in a New York City loft.

His songs continue to be sung and loved by many. Marc Eliot has published a biography on Ochs called "Death Of A Rebel". There are many websites with information about Phil. Check em out.

When I was a little girl I wished I was a boy I tagged along behind the gang and wore my corduroys. Everybody said I only did it to annoy But I was gonna be an engineer

Mamma said, "Why can't you be a lady? Your duty is to make me the mother of a pearl Wait until you're older, dear And maybe you'll be glad that you're a girl.

Dainty as a Dresden statue, gentle as a Jersey cow, Smooth as silk, gives cream and milk Learn to coo, learn to moo That's what you do to be a lady, now.

When I went to school I learned to write and how to read History, geography and home economy And typing is a skill that every girl is sure to need To while away the extra time until the time to breed And then they had the nerve to ask, what would I like to be? I says, "I'm gonna be an engineer!"

"No, you only need to learn to be a lady The duty isn't yours, for to try to run the world An engineer could never have a baby Remember, dear, that you're a girl"

She's smart --- for a woman. I wonder how she got that way? You get no choice, you get no voice Just stay mum, pretend you're dumb. That's how you come to be a lady, today.

Well, I started as a typist but I studied on the sly Working out the day and night so I could qualify And every time the boss came in, he pinched me on the thigh Said, "I've never had an engineer!" "You owe it to the job to be a lady The duty of the staff is to give the boss a whirl The wages that you get are crummy, maybe But it's all you get, 'cause you're a girl"

Then Jimmy came along and we set up a conjugation We were busy every night with loving recreation I spent my days at work so he could get an education And now he's an engineer!

He said: "I know you'll always be a lady The duty of my darling is to love me all her life Could an engineer look after or obey me? Remember, dear, that you're my wife!"

As soon a Jimmy got a job, I studied hard again Then busy at me turret-lathe a year or two, and then The morning that the twins were born, Jimmy says to them "Your mother was an engineer!" "You owe it to the kids to be a lady Dainty as a dish-rag, faithful as a chow Stay at home, you got to mind the baby Remember you're a mother now!"

Every time I turn around there's something else to do Cook a meal or mend a sock or sweep a floor or two Listening to Jimmy Young - it makes me want to spew I was gonna be an engineer.

I only wish that I could be a lady I'd do the lovely things that a lady's s'posed to do I wouldn't even mind if only they would pay me Then I could be a person too.

What price for a woman? You can buy her for a ring of gold, To love and obey, without any pay, You get a cook and a nurse for better or worse You don't need a purse when a lady is sold.

Oh, but now the times are harder and me Jimmy's got the sack; I went down to Vicker's, they were glad o have me back. But I'm a third-class citizen, my wages tell me that But I'm a first-class engineer!

The boss he says "We pay you as a lady, You only got the job because I can't afford a man, With you I keep the profits high as may be, You're just a cheaper pair of hands."

You got one fault, you're a woman; You're not worth the equal pay. A bitch or a tart, you're nothing but heart, Shallow and vain, you've got no brain,

Well, I listened to my mother and I joined a typing pool Listened to my lover and I put him through his school If I listen to the boss, I'm just a bloody fool And an underpaid engineer I been a sucker ever since I was a baby As a daughter, as a mother, as a lover, as a dear But I'll fight them as a woman, not a lady I'll fight them as an engineer!

Words and music by Peggy Seeger in 1970 Copyright Stormking Music, Inc. Recorded by Frankie Armstrong- Out of Love, MacColl & Seeger - At the Present Moment

Hi Sr Felipe: Just checking in through the internet. Man alive is the phone easier!! Love this show and so you know - I now set my alarm for your show. It is the best!! lots of love and blessings - lorraine